The Community Drugs Programme within the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, has a long standing history of delivering undergraduate and graduate education to a range of students. This programme has been designed and is delivered in partnership with Urrus, Ballymun Youth Action Project and aims to build on students’ existing knowledge, interest and expertise in order to support their ability to critically consider, engage and address the complex issues surrounding women and substance use.
The programme draws on a range of expertise in relation to policy, theory and intervention and seeks to include and integrate lessons and understanding from relevant community agencies, as well as emerging research and evidence. This approach aims to both ensure content relevance to a range of professional fields, and utilize this breadth of expertise within the learning environment through tasks that allow for collaboration and discussion between students.
This programme is provided online to promote accessibility and flexibility within the learning environment. Online tutorials are combined with recorded lectures and tailored tasks and exercises to engage students and develop in-depth critical analysis. Students are encouraged to utilise their own lived and work experience, as well as collaborate with others in generating ideas and discussing concepts, theory and intervention.
With the development of the new School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice the Higher Diploma in Social Policy is being reviewed internally in the School with a view to adding social justice modules as core to the current specification of a having a number of social policy modules as core as well as electives. The current proposal envisages two social justice modules as core (10 credits) as well as the 6 (30 credits) core Social Policy modules.